


Knave of Swords

by PostcardsfromTheoryland



Series: April Tarot Card Prompts [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Study, Flash Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23441470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PostcardsfromTheoryland/pseuds/PostcardsfromTheoryland
Summary: The Knave of Swords: New ideas, curiosity, thirst for knowledge, new ways of communicatingShiro and The Atlas have a talk.
Relationships: Atlas & Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: April Tarot Card Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686346
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	Knave of Swords

**Author's Note:**

> So the world is going to hell in a handbasket and so is my mental health. I wanted to get myself to do more creative endeavors, so I started a fic challenge where I pull one tarot card a day and use that as a prompt for a flash fic. These are all going to be un-betaed and mostly un-proofread. I own these typos.

_The Atlas_ was...odd.

After the past few years, Shiro was used to odd experiences. Aliens are real, getting a new Quintessence-powered arm, dying, coming back to life, getting a _new_ new Quintessence-powered arm. But despite the fact that he’d piloted a magical robot lion that combined with other robot lions to make a magical robot man, he really hadn’t been expecting the very large ship that he knew for a fact was not powered by Altean alchemy to form another magical robot man.

Space was weird. Everything was weird.

He hadn’t had a chance to communicate with _The Atlas_ much after the Robeast battle, not with the paladins in the hospital in various stages of healing and the Earth suddenly becoming a new Coalition hub with thousands, if not millions of aliens coming in to help them rebuild. But he knew the connection he had with the ship, understood the bond between pilot and vessel, and now that things had settled back down a bit he figured it was time to work on that connection. They’d need all hands on deck to deal with whatever Haggar threw at them next.

And of course, now that he was making an effort, _The Atlas_ was frustratingly silent. He’d been in the bridge for a good four vargas, sitting on the floor and meditating, trying to reach out to her like he’d done with Black, and just...nothing.

Maybe it was a one-time thing. Maybe there was just enough residual energy from the diamond that once was the Castle of Lions to force the change in the heat of battle, and they’d used it up.

At least, that’s what he thought, until he tried to go to bed. Tried to go to bed. Because his rooms were missing.

How does an entire set of rooms just...disappear? He was positive they had been there last night. And the night before last.

What the hell, ship.

Well, fine. The paladins’ all had spacious, multi-room suites. He’d go crash on the sofa in Keith’s living room and then figure out just what fresh hell was in store for him tomorrow.

Given the general oddness of the day, he was half-expecting Keith’s door to remain stubbornly closed. But no, it slid open like normal, only then there was a clatter of ceramic in the little kitchenette and a whispered “ _shit_ ” coming from someone who was definitely supposed to be asleep.

“Keith Kogane, I swear to god if you’re making coffee right now…”

“I wish, but no. Hot chocolate.”

“You’re supposed to be resting,” Shiro scolded. Keith had been the hardest hit in the Robeast attack and the longest to stay in the hospital. They’d only released him this afternoon, and really only then because he threatened to climb out the window and escape if they didn’t let him leave.

“I’m fine, Shiro,” he said, but it had that sleepy, frustrated whine to it that Shiro remembered from their Garrison days.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Keith shook his head. “Black’s laughing about something.”

“The Black Lion is...what?”

“I know,” Keith said, walking to the couch with two mugs of the Olkari version of hot chocolate they’d both gotten somewhat addicted to. “She’s trying to be quiet, but.” He handed Shiro one of the mugs and collapsed against the arm of the couch, nearly spilling hot chocolate in the process. “What are you even doing here, anyway? Did you seriously just show up to tell me to go to bed?”

“No, honestly I was going to crash here.”

“Something wrong with your room?”

“It’s gone.”

“Gone,” Keith repeated after a sip of chocolate.

“Yeah it uh, it disappeared.”

“Man, you must have really pissed off _The Atlas_ , that’s some petty shit right there.”

“I don’t know what she wants, I tried to connect to her all evening and nothing worked.”

“Patience yields focus,” Keith smirked.

“Twerp.”

“No, but seriously, _Atlas_ is like what, two months old? She’s like a little kid. You can’t treat her like she’s one of the Lions, because she’s not. And I know for a fact you weren’t here at all while we were all in the hospital. You basically ignored her this whole time. She’s throwing a temper tantrum.”

Shiro glanced over at Keith, his eyes half closed and hair sticking up in a million directions, and couldn’t help but feel proud. “Shit. You’re probably right. When did you suddenly get this perceptive?”

“I’m the Black Paladin,” Keith managed through a yawn. “And I’m tired. Figure your shit out with the giant ship so the Black Lion shuts up and lets me sleep.” He drained the rest of his chocolate and shuffled off toward his bedroom, handing Shiro his empty mug as he went. Shiro savored the rest of his cocoa, taking long enough that it was nearly cold by the end. And then, just because he knew Keith would leave the dirty mugs out for days, if not weeks, he washed their mugs and put them on the counter to dry before settling back on the couch.

Patience yields focus, after all.

 _Ok, Atlas. I’m sorry I didn’t come visit you after the battle. The paladins were hurt, and I needed to make sure they were ok, and then we needed to tell everyone on Earth what was happening and help the Coalition set up here. But I’m here now, and I want to talk._ There was still no response, not really, but there was a faint sensation of a disgruntled grumble, and if he tried hard enough he could just barely make out the Black Lion’s amusement underneath everything.

Like a child, Keith had suggested. Ok then.

 _Hi, Atlas. My name is Shiro. You could call me Takashi, I guess. If you wanted. My favorite color is maroon. What’s yours?_ There was a strange tugging brush against his mind, like _The Atlas_ couldn’t decide whether to respond, before the clear image of a drab, beige-ish color flashed in his mind. Seemed like an odd choice before Shiro placed where he’d seen it before.

 _Cosmic latte, huh?_ A sort of gleeful smugness. _We’ll go explore the rest of the universe after the war is over. You can go see all the rest of the colors. But there’s work to do first, ok?_ An eagerness, then, and curiosity, but also a sense of resolve and intention. Keith had been partially correct - _The Atlas_ may be young, but at her core was a 10,000 year old Altean ship.

 _The Atlas_ knew what they had to do.


End file.
